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Poetry Corner

It’s February, which means we’re celebrating Black History Month in the United States. This month, we recognize the wonderful achievements of African Americans and remember our country’s history of racial tension. Today, we’d like to focus on the brilliant and multi-talented poet and writer, Maya Angelou.

Free verse poetry might feel like a foreign land for some and a familiar friend to others. Maybe you love the flowing sound and fun line breaks of free verse, or perhaps you prefer the rhythm and melody of Longfellow or Tennyson’s rhyming poems. No matter your experiences are with free verse, join us today to explore the vivid and breathtaking world of free verse poetry!

Winter is the perfect season to curl up beside the fireplace with a mug of cocoa or hot apple cider and read some poetry. But unless you love the constant chill drafts under the doorway and the icy frost on the windows of your car, you might be longing for a different season! That’s why we’d like to introduce some of our favorite collections of poetry about all four seasons for your enjoyment today. Bundle up and read on!

Today we are excited to welcome to Poetry Teatime the wonderfully creative children’s poet and illustrator, Betsy Snyder. After illustrating everything from greeting cards to children’s books, Betsy shifted gears and started writing and illustrating her own books. Her first few books introduce haikus to the very young, and she's been busy working with sounds and images ever since!

Imagine a type of poetry found in ancient cultures all over the world, detailing the most exciting heroic struggles and achievements imaginable. Epic poems do just that! Epics can be found in cultures as far apart as Kenya, India, and Finland. So get your myth-reading voices ready, because you’re about to be swept into a dangerous journey full of daring heroes, perilous quests, and the hope of victory!

What’s a haiku? It’s a moment in time captured in three short lines of poetry. It’s the instant before a bird lands on the surface of a still pond. It’s the curl of wind that nudges a single leaf aside and lets a gleam of sunlight through. It’s the ribbon of cloud that crosses a full moon. Haikus give us a moment to pause and appreciate the beauty of the world around us.

In the season of spookiness, who better to celebrate than Edgar Allan Poe and his immortal raven! If you’ve ever read a spooky story, chances are it was in some way influenced by Poe. Poe is credited with inventing detective fiction and inspiring both early science fiction and horror. So get ready for cries of “nevermore!” in today’s teatime celebrating Poe!